ACC, PAC-12, and BIG alliance / conference realignment

[CousCuse]

Welcome to Stanford, Cal and SMU. It isn’t a great solution but it was the best remaining option and I am glad the ACC took it.

Want to talk about scheduling a bit. With 18 schools for basketball, the ACC finally gets away from that odd number of schools and the problem of 1 ACC team having the weekind off each week during conference play. That is nice. Probably will keep the existing scheduling model and go from 20 to 22 basketball games in conference. Bad news for schools that like to play at Syracuse OOC to make some coin.

For football, there are of course 17 schools in the league. The easiest option seems to be to have 2 rivals each team plays every year. That leaves 14 other schools. Play 7 one year and the other the next year.

This brings the ACC to 9 conference games, which is controversial. But it is by far the best way to retain key rivalries and play everyone regularly. My guess is that all the conferences end up having to do this and college football expands to a 13 game regular season to allow some cupcake games against FCS teams and retention of traditional annual OOC games.

The B1G didn’t do this, which given how incompetent they have been at making decisions, makes me confident this is the way to go.

The ACC could also go with 4 annual rivals and then rotate through the 12 schools not played annually by playing 4 each year. So you play everyone in the conference at least once every 3 years.

That solution only requires 8 conference games a year and will probably by chosen based on that. But no one is going to want to be a rival for Stanford, Cal and SMU except for Stanford, Cal and SMU.

Cuse and SMU are long lost relations. Playing a game every other year in the DFW metroplex, who doesn't want that.

 

[Bayside44]

The SU non-revenue athletes have been traveling to exotic locales like Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky for years. Honestly a couple extra hours on a plane, maybe once a year, ain't much different.

Back to back games and week in California might no be so bad.

 

[UpstateSM]

SMU telling the ACC to keep their money might be the biggest baller move in college sports history. Talk that cash talk, oil fellas.

 

[Toga]

Very appreciative of the fact these three fine academic institutions were able to overlook joining a conference in which a lead member was the subject of the greatest academic/athletic fraud in memory.

 

[illestcuse]

 

[Cusefan69]

Where's that damn Picard make it so meme when you need it? Damn. Really I would 100 percent do that as punishment and they would be traveling west for the next decade.

 

[texascpa]

SMU is about to level up big-time in the next 3-4 years. Look at what it did for Utah.

Gave up 9 YEARS of TV Revenue. It that doesn't show commitment by the boosters and admin to taking it up a level or two, I don't know what is.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[NYCCuse826]

Has anyone asked the kids if they are bummed they will have to make a trip or two to Cali every year or other year? I think it's funny all the grumbly get off my lawn folks thinking 19-23 year olds will be overtaxed going out west a couple times to Berkeley and Palo Alto.

If the money is there to cover travel then as others said we just made the best bad decision to avoid a much worse fate. The B12 and Big Ten already took the plunge into this madness - the arrogant big 3 of the ACC want out anyways. Those of you so against it I'd like to hear just how the ACC has any hope surviving with 12 teams once those guys leave. We would be looking back wondering why we didn't protect ourselves when the opportunity came aboard.

No one is trampling your lawn here and kids aren't gonna scoff at some Cali visits.

You've had non-revenue athletes from Oregon say the exact opposite when they were invited to the B1G. Travel is a big deal as a competitor.

 

[wiseman3]

SMU is about to level up big-time in the next 3-4 years. Look at what it did for Utah.

Agreed. From a football standpoint, this is an excellent addition. I'm sure they'll become a perennially ranked team and very successful if they play their cards right

 

[Toga]

Gave up 9 YEARS of TV Revenue. It that doesn't show commitment by the boosters and admin to taking it up a level or two, I don't know what is.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Scotch]

Notre Dame needs to join for football...ACC should be doing everything in their power to get them to. The conference needs a football brand name torch bearer for when Clemson and FSU inevitably leave

You should send an email to ACC headquarters with this idea.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OttoinGrotto]

SMU is about to level up big-time in the next 3-4 years. Look at what it did for Utah.

PAC-whatever helped Utah for sure, but they also had the right coach to level up in Kyle Wittingham. They need Lashlee (or someone else if he fails) to be their Wittingham.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Very appreciative of the fact these three fine academic institutions were able to overlook joining a conference in which a lead member was the subject of the greatest academic/athletic fraud in memory.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Orangezoo]

You've had non-revenue athletes from Oregon say the exact opposite when they were invited to the B1G. Travel is a big deal as a competitor.

It's a leverage game. Unfortunately yes this sucks for the west coast athletes which was their own conference's fault for putting them in that position. It sucks for the west coast athletes joining.

That wasn't my point though. The non revenue athletes for the 15 programs already in the ACC are hardly getting screwed over by this. So arguing the point from Oregons standpoint is moving the goal posts a bit.

This was always going to be less advantageous to the West Coast athletes losing their own major conference.

 

[Scooch]

It has been a slippery slope. In the old BE, the Olympic sports for SU had to travel to Miami and Tampa and Milwaukee. They currently have to travel to Miami and Tallahassee. Those aren’t bus rides to Ithaca.

If they go to Stanford and Cal, they probably play both on the same trip

The non football and hoops athletes that really get screwed are the Stanford and Cal kids. They will spend their whole lives traveling.

Kinda. People always seem to overlook that every school plays half their games at home. Sometimes more than half (see: P5 hoops).

And it’s not like Cal and Stanford Olympic sports teams were taking buses to Pullman, Washington, Tempe, Arizona and Los Angeles. There was a LOT of plane travel involved in the PAC 12.

Obviously it’ll be more now, and some longer hauls. But they aren’t going to be on the road 40 weeks a year.

I’d MUCH prefer tighter geographic conference, don’t get me wrong. Just that some folks don’t always think full through what the travel increase will actually be.

 

[OrangeDW]

I can honestly say I’ve never watched an SMU athletic event, and didn’t even realize they were a power 5 school.

They’re here because of the Dallas market? Sounds like a southern Rutgers to me.

 

[Killdozer]

The ACC just fixed its scheduling and now we are going to a market where the MLB and NFL are fleeing from. 2 teams there 1 horrible market worse than Boston and BC in terms of CFB/CBB popularity.

It was 10 years ago we played a 'road' NCAA tournament game against Cal in San Jose and they had literally no home court advantage and fan support.

Everyone will mock the ACC too because of its name 'Atlantic' conference playing games on the Pacific makes every member institution look pathetic.

Man, you really sweat the small stuff like conference name? You must have a constants black cloud over your head

 

[Orangezoo]

Kinda. People always seem to overlook that every school plays half their games at home. Sometimes more than half (see: P5 hoops).

And it’s not like Cal and Stanford Olympic sports teams were taking buses to Pullman, Washington, Tempe, Arizona and Los Angeles. There was a LOT of plane travel involved in the PAC 12.

Obviously it’ll be more now, and some longer hauls. But they aren’t going to be on the road 40 weeks a year.

I’d MUCH prefer tighter geographic conference, don’t get me wrong. Just that some folks don’t always think full through what the travel increase will actually be.

I'll just tack on that professionally- travel is much more commonplace today. Whether you work remote or in an office many of us travel throughout the year even if just domestically. D1 level Athletes do so prior to college too for events often on a regular basis.

Its never fun to do it cross country all the time but as someone who use to do Dulles to SFO a few times a month it wasn't great but it wasn't some kind of cruel and unfair punishment either. Once arrived I always enjoyed the Cali trips.